1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to devices for applying therapeutic hot and cold treatments to the human body, and more particularly, it relates to a suboccipital pillow for applying hot and/or cold treatments to the suboccipital area of the neck and head.
2. Background Art
It is well known within the medical arts that the application of hot and/or cold treatments to portions of the body can alleviate substantial amounts of pain and discomfort, and further can aid in the healing process. Two particularly useful applications are those of treating stiff necks and migraine headaches. The difficulty in treating the neck and head area lies in keeping the hot or cold reservoir in contact with that portion of the body and at the same time keeping the patient comfortable.
A particularly useful device for applying either hot or cold treatments is taught by SPENCER, U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,537 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,403. Both patents teach a tough flexible envelope of plastic material within which is a gel which maintains a gel like consistency over a wide temperature range. The gel pack may be cooled within a freezer compartment or heated in boiling water, to a desired temperature for therapeutic use. While the gel pack of Spencer advantageously maintains its gel like consistency over a wide temperature range, it is not easily maintained juxtaposition the head and neck portions of the human body.
A device designed specifically for applying hot or cold treatments to the head area, is taught by SHAVE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,918. The device consists of a pillow having a flap provided with a pocket adapted to receive a temperature establishing means such as a heat pad or an ice pack. The pillow of Shave is particularly well adapted for applying treatment to either temple area. It is, however, not well adapted for applying hot or cold treatments to the suboccipital region of the head, as this would require the user to rest in the pillow face down, which is a particularly uncomfortable position for someone with a neck injury. Additionally, the pocket of Shave is not well adapted for use with a gel pack such as that taught by Spencer. When using a gel pack, it is advantageous to insulate the gel pack from the surrounding environment so as to limit the amount of heat absorption or loss and therefore prolong the treatment duration. This concern necessitates providing an insulated pocket wherein the side of the pocket adjacent the application area is insulated only to a point so as to prevent cold or heat damage to the skin, and the side of the pocket adjacent the environment is heavily insulated to prevent heat loss or absorption.
In practice, a gel pack is cooled within the freezer compartment of a household refrigerator, and hence, it is cooled to just below the freezing point of water, 32.degree. F. The heat sink provided by gel pack cooled to this temperature, is normally insufficient to promote cold damage to the skin. It is therefore unnecessary to over insulate the side adjacent the treatment area of the gel pack containing pocket, and in fact, it is undesirable to do so, as doing so limits the rate of heat absorbtion from the treatment area. Heating a gel pack, on the other hand, is easily done in either a pan of boiling water or in a microwave oven. The resulting temperatures can very easily exceed the temperature at which skin burns. It is therefore desirable to heavily insulate the side adjacent the treatment area of the gel pack containing pocket so as to prevent burns. Therefore, for cooling purposes the treatment side of the pocket must be lightly insulated as opposed to being heavily insulated for use in heat treatment. The pillow of Shave provides only one pocket and is unsuitable for applying both hot and cold treatments using a gel pack.
DARNFORS, U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,794, teaches an inflatable cushion being shaped in a semi-toroidal fashion. The DARNFORS device is well suited for supporting the neck and suboccipital areas of the head of a patient while sitting. The device of DARNFORS, however, does not teach the use of either hot or cold treatments in connection therewith. This invention is designed for use by travelers to maintain there heads in a more comfortable upright position when the traveler is resting in a sitting position. Hence, the pillow is designed to have a uniform height or thickness all the way around it and is therefore not well suited for patients resting in a laying position.
What is needed is a device for simultaneously supporting the neck and suboccipital region of the head and applying hot and/or cold treatments thereto using convenient gel packs.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a supportive pillow which is capable of applying hot or cold treatments to the neck and suboccipital regions of the head which utilizes a gel pack for its heat sink or source. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dual sized pillow wherein one side is particularly well suited for applying a heated gel pack while the other is well suited for applying a cooled gel pack.